


Betty

by ai_firestarter



Series: The Beth Cycle [1]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-08
Updated: 2015-02-08
Packaged: 2018-03-11 03:17:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3311927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_firestarter/pseuds/ai_firestarter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elizabeth Spielsdorf will never attend Princeton. Now she has to figure out, in the wake of a torpedoed life, who she really is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Betty

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [She had her name on her tshirt.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2710433) by [saintsavage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/saintsavage/pseuds/saintsavage). 



Elizabeth Spielsdorf will never attend Princeton.

A semester of torpedoed marks, of her boobs and ass - and, worst of all,  _grammatical errors_  -  all over social media. Moving expenses to  _fucking Austria._ Most schools wouldn't even transfer credits from Silas. The school had a  _reputation_ , just like she'd figured from her disastrous campus tour.

( _"You've always wanted to travel!", Mom had said, and Elizabeth had bit her tongue to suppress an acidic retort about her mother using the excuse to live vicariously through her smarter, more successful daughter._ )

A pink t-shirt with BETTY written in sequins; she wanted to burn it in effigy and cackle out of release, but instead she gifted it to  _Carmilla_ , her apparent vampiric savior. The pale girl had apparently grown fond of it, and who was Elizabeth to deny the girl a shirt that didn't even belong to her, really.

 _Betty_. She'd look through the photos for hours; she'd never had a problem focusing when she wanted to, and now she had little to distract her from lingering on her months of oblivion. One arm thrown around Laura, or pulling the tiny nerd into a crowd of partiers.  _Always fucking laughing. Betty, you dumb slut_ , she'd growl internally at a girl who couldn't possibly be poised, brilliant Elizabeth.

She wants to strangle Laura Hollis for not seeing what was wrong, that  _she_  was wrong, for being her friend and not helping her, saving her during her decline. She sees how Laura looked at her: like a big sister, like a best friend.

She sees how Laura  _looks_  at her: like a disappointment.

Fuck her, because Elizabeth fucking Spielsdorf doesn't disappoint  _anyone_. They fear her. 

Right?

They used to.

She hates Laura, more than she's ever hated anyone, for loving a her that never existed. She watches that one video over and over, of  _Betty_  and her lazy drawl and her "Gentlewoman's C" and her need to spend every night shaking her ass to shitty pop music.

She hates how easy it is between the two of them. How playful it is. 

She watches the last video, too. The differences make her blood boil. How Laura - attentive to Betty, hanging off every syllable - doesn't even respond to a thing Elizabeth says. Barely looks at her. Completely disregards her.

And how, watching them back to back, even Elizabeth can't help but think of that girl, with the straight spine and the pulled-back hair and petty commentary about Carmilla's living habits... that girl seems like a bitch.

 _Betty's back. wince. Kind_  of.

Why does she feel so inadequate next to a dumb, slutty ghost? 

Why is she jealous of a girl who was proud of a 62?

_"I'm not leaving you here talking to the Internet about some library catalogue prank."_

Goddamit. Fucking  _Betty_.

Laura is moving out. And Elizabeth isn't.

She and Carmilla found an off-campus apartment, so she's packed up and almost all ready to go. There are a few boxes in the corner - not that Elizabeth is a snoop, but they're all just clothes anyway.  _  
_

A knock at the door, and Elizabeth's head jerks up in surprise. "Come in, it's open. This stu- these dorms don't have locks."

And in walks Danny Lawrence.

Elizabeth was vaguely aware of the Amazonian redhead during the rescue, but that whole week was a traumatic blur. It wasn't until now, after the break, that Danny felt  _real_. And intimidating as hell.

"Laura said she left a few boxes? I was gonna pick them up for her."

Elizabeth nods, her hand slicing through the air to jerk in the direction of the small stack of them. "That's the lot of it."

Her eyes linger on Danny as she appraises the stack. Elizabeth should hold her tongue, but she can't. She's seen every video; she knows this girl now, in a way. Knows what being hurt by Laura Hollis feels like. 

"She really did a number on you, huh? Doing errands for the girl who screwed you over."

"She's my friend."

"She's dating the vampire, you know." She doesn't say it to be mean, but she's never been particularly nice. That was  _Betty_ 's game. "You should run like the wind before she gets you killed."

Danny actually  _chuckles_  at that, which is new; Elizabeth's used to sarcasm, insults, occasionally violence at her bluntness. Danny, it seems, finds her refreshing. "You're right. But I care about her. And, I think, she cares about me. It's a bind."

Elizabeth smiles. Wonders what she can do to convince Danny to stay long enough for her to make an impression. To make her smile.

Begrudgingly, she realises there's a lesson she can take from Betty's playbook.  _Dumb slut had a way with people. Maybe there's a happy medium out there for me._

So Elizabeth smiles - really smiles, because she's trying to catch the attention of a  _goddess_  and sullen won't cut it - and steals a bit of Betty's charm when she proposes, "Wanna get drunk instead?"

And so they drink.

Danny complains about Laura - her diet, her recklessness, her capricious charms and moving targets. She complains about Carmilla, and Silas, and petty Summer Society bullshit, and all Elizabeth wants to do is keep listening.

"So, Betty--"

"--Don't call me that."

It comes out sharper than she intends, and Danny sobers up for a second. Then smiles.

"My parents still call me Danielle. So I get it. What do you  _want_  to be called?"

She thinks about it. Not Betty; that girl, whoever she was, is gone. But maybe, not Elizabeth either. She's not going to be President of the United States, not with a Silas degree under her belt. But maybe that's not exactly what she wants any more, either.

She remembers muttering caustic comments that made her mom cry, guys calling her a cunt and girls calling her a frigid bitch and neither ever asking her out. She remembers stressing so intensely over tests that she wouldn't eat for days and her hands would shake. She remembers being  _lonely_  and  _angry_  and she's  _both_  right now and doesn't want to be either one any more.

So she gives Danny a sideways smile, whispers, "Call me Beth," and kisses Danny right on the lips.

Maybe this will work out after all.


End file.
